Men's Basketball | November 28, 2023

PHILADELPHIA - A Big 5 Classic championship-game berth is at stake on Wednesday night, as La Salle and Temple square off at Liacouras Center. TIpoff is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

Kale Beers, Rich Tarr, and Bron Holland will bring you an online radio broadcast via goexplorers.com. In addition, Explorers fans can follow the team on X @LaSalle_MBB and Instagram @lasallembb.

NEWS & NOTES

• The Explorers are coming off an emotional 81-62 victory over Coppin State on Sunday.
• Head coach Fran Dunphy was the story, notching his 600th career victory.
• Dunphy's career spans 32+ seasons between three Big 5 programs - Penn, Temple, and now La Salle.
• As head coach of the Owls, Dunphy accumulated 270 of those wins and led the program to eight NCAA Tournament appearances.
• La Salle received a season-best performance from senior Anwar Gill in the victory over Coppin State on Sunday, as he recorded 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
• Gill nearly recorded the first double-double of his career, registering nine rebounds to set a new career mark.
• Sophomore big man Rokas Jocius also had a nice afternoon, picking up his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.

SCOUTING TEMPLE

• The Owls are coming in with a 3-2 record, having started the season with three straight wins before dropping their last two contests.
• In their last outing against Ole Miss, a narrow 77-76 loss, Hysier Miller scored a team-high 21 points.
• Miller is averaging 20.2 points and 4.2 assists per game to lead the Owls in both categories.
• Free throw shooting is a strength for Temple, as the team shoots an impressive 84.8 percent and averages 22.4 attempts per game.
• Matteo Picarelli is the top three-point shooter for the Owls, clipping the nets at a 44.1 percent rate from downtown.

SERIES HISTORY

• La Salle and Temple have played a total of 105 times over the years, with the Owls holding a 68-37 record over the Explorers.
• The Explorers have dropped seven of the last eight meetings between the two schools, with the last win coming nearly six years ago to the day (Nov. 26, 2017).
• In that game, Pookie Powell and B.J. Johnson led La Salle to an 87-83 overtime win at Tom Gola Arena.
• Last season, Khalil Brantley had a team-high 14 points but Temple held La Salle to 31.9 percent shooting in a 67-51 loss for the Explorers at The Palestra.

INSIDE THE BIG 5

• La Salle and Temple will square off for a championship game berth at the first Big 5 Classic, set to be held at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, Dec. 2.
• Both the Explorers and Dragons defeated Drexel earlier in the season, and both of those victories came down to the final minutes of action.
• In the other pod, Saint Joseph's has an opportunity to advance to the championship game with a win over Villanova on Wednesday. That game will be played at Finneran Pavilion.